| Mural Painting (Latin murus,"wall"), is decoration of walls | | | | Altamira, Spain, and the Lascaux caves in southern |
| or ceilings for aesthetic or didactic purposes, executed | | | | France (see Paleolithic Art). In the Far East, mural |
| in any of several techniques. Most often used to | | | | painting began in China about 1700 bc and from there |
| decorate public buildings, mural paintings tend to be of | | | | spread to Korea and Japan. A remarkable series of |
| large scale and to portray religious, historic, or patriotic | | | | paintings on Buddhist themes, done in tempera |
| themes significant to the public. Closely allied to | | | | (between the 2nd century bc and the 7th century ad), |
| architectural and decorative schemes, mural art often | | | | cover the walls of caves in Ajanta, India. |
| emphasizes or enhances interior design, or can | | | | |
| transform it, giving the illusion of different spatial | | | | Wall painting was one of the highly developed arts of |
| dimensions. | | | | ancient Egypt, the walls and ceilings of tomb chambers |
| | | | | were decorated in tempera with figures and motifs |
| Mural painting techniques include encaustic painting, | | | | symbolizing life in the afterworld. The palace of |
| fresco, oil painting, and tempera painting; the term | | | | Knossos (Knosós) in ancient Crete (Kríti) was |
| fresco is in fact often used interchangeably with the | | | | enhanced with brightly colored fresco paintings of |
| terms mural or mural painting. Ceramics and, more | | | | flowers, animals, and human figures, and public edifices |
| recently, liquid silicates, acrylics, and fired porcelain | | | | as well as private dwellings throughout ancient Greece |
| enamel are other media often employed in mural art. | | | | were customarily decorated in tempera and encaustic; |
| Some modern murals have also been composed of | | | | the tradition was carried on into later Hellenistic and |
| photographs. Mosaics, often used to adorn walls and | | | | Roman times. Particularly noteworthy are the illusionistic |
| ceilings, are considered a separate genre, however. | | | | paintings of landscapes, still life, and the human figure |
| | | | | found on the walls of buildings at Pompeii and |
| A very ancient art form, mural painting is found on the | | | | Herculaneum. |
| walls of prehistoric caves, most notably those in | | | | |